


the way you look tonight

by nyckolodeo_n



Category: The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, the minho/brenda is brief i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-04 11:26:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3066113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyckolodeo_n/pseuds/nyckolodeo_n
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thomas has a habit of drawing Minho when he doesn't realize it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the way you look tonight

**Author's Note:**

> okay so this is my first tmr fic ever and i hope you all enjoy it. i just kinda threw it together in like an hour i hope there are no grammar mistakes or whatever x

The first time Thomas draws Minho, he’s not even conscious of the fact that _that’s_ what he’s doing. The assignment he’s been given for class is to capture what they think is beauty in a simple sketch, using charcoal. There doesn’t need to be a summary as to why they think it’s beautiful, the way they draw it is supposed to capture that meaning, is supposed to make it very obvious as to what captivates the artist as much as it does. He’s hanging out with Minho, Teresa, and Newt, hanging out in a section of the park that always seems to be empty when they come around – though Thomas isn’t really sure why, it’s a very beautiful place and the way the sun shines through the trees makes it seem just warm enough to condone their being outside before it’s began to properly warm up. The others are chatting about some party they went to over the weekend, thrown by some girl named Brenda, though he’s hardly paying attention, opting to focus on his drawing that’s due in less than two hours. He’s just gotten the curl of the smiling lips on the page right when a pinecone hits him on the side of his head, causing his hand to slip, messing up his page.

“Hey!” he glares at his friends, who are trying to stifle their giggles behind their hands. “Which one of you shuck-faces did it? I have less than two hours to turn this in and it’s gonna take me twenty minutes to fix what you just messed up.” He’s aware that he sounds a bit like a brat, but he doesn’t care. He worked _hard_ on this piece and he’s determined to get an A on it if it’s the last thing he does. Teresa just rolls her eyes at him, scooting closer in the grass to get a look at his sketchbook. He realizes what she’s trying to do a second too late, and can’t hide the page he’s drawing on fast enough to keep her from looking at it. He’s always been rather self conscious of his drawings, trying to make it where only the teacher will be able to look at his work, but that ends today apparently, as Teresa scans the page with her eyes, a smirk settled firmly on her face.

“Why, Tom, what a lovely drawing you have here. Might we show the others?” She says in a mocking tone, making to show their friends what’s in the sketchbook. Thomas snatches it back before Newt can grab it from her though and holds it tightly to his chest. “What’s the matter, Thomas? That picture truly is _beautiful_ , why don’t you let the boys see it?” Her tone is mocking, and Thomas can’t really pick out why. He furrows his eyebrows and she rolls her eyes again, nodding at his sketchbook, gesturing for him to see what she’s talking about.

He slowly moves the pad from his chest, careful to still keep it out of sight of the others. When he gets a look at what’s on the page though, he wishes he’d have just taken her word for it and left it alone; because what’s staring back at him, figuratively of course, is Minho’s face. His angled jaw line, the arch of his brows, the bow of his lip, and his eyes, all perfectly replicated onto his little piece of paper. He gapes, unsure what to do, and he’s pretty sure Newt and Minho are properly confused, as they should be. He certainly is, though it explains Teresa’s behavior, her being the only one of their group to know about his feelings – it’s not a _crush_ Teresa I am not twelve years old – though she mocks him for them more often then not, so he can’t decide if telling her about how lovely Minho’s arms were and how weird but amazing it is that said boy’s hair never seems to be out of place and how absolutely love his eyes were and about how Thomas could get lost in them if he was allowed to stare – which he unfortunately is not, because he’s ninety-percent sure that even though they’re great friends Minho would probably tease him and then proceed to punch him in the face _(no, Teresa, I am not overreacting)_.

He quickly shuts the sketchpad, and chances a glance at Newt and Minho sitting across from him and Teresa; Newt’s face is a mixture of curiosity and confusion while Minho looks amused and a little… worried? It doesn’t really make sense so he just smiles at them, hoping that it reaches his eyes. He’s always been pretty shit at hiding his emotions, but he’s hoping that his talent, or lack there of, is present on his face right now. By the way Minho’s face falls slightly more and Teresa elbows him in the side, he’d say things aren’t going his way. Minho cocks and eyebrow, leaning back on his arms and Thomas has to fight every instinct in his body not to track the movement with his eyes.

“Everything alright, Tommy? You’re not drawing some naked girl in that bloody book of yours are you?” Newt’s tone is lighthearted, obviously trying to break some of the sudden tension, and Thomas is relieved, though Minho’s shoulders looks tenser than before. Thomas tries not to look into it too much.

“Yeah, Newt. I’m peachy. Absolutely fine, nothing wrong with me.” He says a little too fast, and then follows it up with, “And drawing a naked girl? Like any girl I know would pose willingly for me to do that sort of thing. What is this, Titanic?” Teresa snorts and Newt rolls his eyes and Minho’s shoulders seem to slump a little, a small smile showing up on his lips. “Anyways, what were you guys talking about? Some girl named Brenda and a thing with a chicken?” Minho’s whole face lights up and he goes, in detail, about the happening of the party and how cool this Brenda girl is and Thomas tries not to let his heart feel like it’s been broken into a million pieces.

Teresa places her hand on top of his knee, signaling that he isn’t doing a very good job at not letting it show.

-x-

The second time he does it, Minho’s just won their school the State Champion title at the last Cross Country meet of the season before they go on summer break. Since that first time, Minho’s started hanging out with that Brenda girl more and more often, and she’s been included in every group outing they’ve gone on, dragging along her friend Aris in the process. Turns out they’re actually dating, and while everyone seems to have noticed how this has affected Thomas, no one says anything about it. Teresa will hold his hand when the two of them are cuddly during movie night, Aris will lay a comforting hand on his shoulder when the two of them kiss and Newt and Frypan take him out for a dude’s night when Minho and Brenda have dates. Thomas is grateful for all of his friends, and he’s extremely grateful that they know how to keep their mouths shut, for the time being.

The moment he realizes that Minho is, again, the person on the page he’s drawing, he immediate wants to shred it to bits. Thomas has been watching Minho run for years, and he always has the same starting position; right leg slightly behind of his left, back slightly arched so that from his shoulders to his fingertips are in a straight line to help him push off. And for some reason, Thomas’ fingers have a mind of their own, because staring back at him is Minho in his picture perfect form, like he’s posing for a Sports Illustrated magazine, and it makes Thomas want to cry a little bit; because Minho is this beautiful boy that he’ll never get to be more than a best friend to and Thomas just wants to sketch him from every angle and kiss him on every nook and indentation on Minho’s face and chest and he wants to be the one that Minho’s currently twirling in a spinning hug as he presses kisses to Thomas’ face. He’s happy for him and Brenda, honestly and fully, but he gets to be a little bit bitter. He’s pined for years and years with no outcome and then Brenda comes out of nowhere with this stupid chicken trick she did three months ago and has stolen Minho right out from under him.

It’s just not fair, all right?

Hands slip around his waist, and he smiles at Teresa when she glances sadly at the pad in his lap. He just sighs and shakes his head, signaling that he really doesn’t want to talk about it and she nods; because she understands and she gets it and Thomas really couldn’t have asked for a better best friend than her. He closes his sketchpad and they walk over to where their friends are huddled together. He tries to be happy and cheer for his best friend the best he can, but the sad smiles his friends send him and the worrying glances Minho sends him tell him he isn’t doing a very good job of it.

He’s just got to try harder to not draw Minho anymore and to get over this ridiculous crush he’s been harboring for eight years.

He can totally do this.

-x-

The third time Thomas draws Minho, it’s of his hands gripping weights they have in the makeshift gym in the house the two of them rent with Newt and Alby.

He burns it.

-x-

The fourth time is just a sketch of the Asian boy’s eyes when he’s smiling.

Thomas shreds it and flushes it down the toilet.

-x-

The fifth time is of Minho’s forearms – yes veins included.

-x-

The sixth time, Thomas somehow draws himself into the picture as well, in a situation he’s seen Minho and Brenda in multiple times before they’d broken up just a month after school had ended for the semester. They’re curled on the couch; Thomas’ head rested on Minho’s shoulder and the other boy has fingers running through his hair. They’re asleep, fitting together like they were made for each other, and it makes Thomas’ heart drop to the bottom of his stomach as her throws the sketchpad across the room and proceeds to cry into his pillow.

He stays pathetic and in hiding from his friends for three days.

-x-

On the fourth morning, he wakes to someone combing their fingers through his hair, humming a tune he doesn’t recognize under their breath. He’s curled around this person, and it takes him no time at all to realize that it’s Minho. He tenses, and Minho’s fingers stop their pattern, probably waiting for Thomas’ reaction. But Thomas doesn’t know how to react, because this is something he’s wanted for such a long time, so it has to be a dream right? This can’t possibly be real, because in real life, Thomas doesn’t get the things he so strongly desires, always waking up right when he’s about to get the kiss he’s wanted for so long and completely _ruining his life_ – again Teresa, I am _not_ overreacting.

So he does the only thing his brain can process, he tilts his head up, staring at Minho for a minute, waiting for an explanation, for Minho to laugh at him, for him to wake up. But none of that comes; Minho is smiling softly at him, eyes crinkled in the corner like they always are and his cheeks are tinted just the slightest shade of pink.

“Hey, shuck-face.” The Asian boy’s voice is soft, barely a whisper and barely there that Thomas almost doesn’t hear it, hear the fondness in the other boy’s voice. “You done being a hermit, now? Or did you want to draw more of my pretty face, again.” Thomas freezes again and glances down at the sketchpad on Minho’s chest. His throat suddenly feels very tight and he doesn’t know what to say or do and he starts to open his mouth, wills his voice to make _any_ kind of apology, but he doesn’t get there. Because Minho’s face is suddenly much closer, and holy shit _those are Minho’s lips kissing his._

Thomas doesn’t react at first, but then he feels Minho start to pull away and he does the first thing he can think of and grabs Minho by the front of his shirt and all but yanks him down into another kiss. It’s not sweet, actually the exact opposite, but Thomas doesn’t really care that they’ve completely passed “we should take this slow” and have gone straight to “holy-shit-I-hope-I-get-to-touch-your-dick-in-two-seconds.” They’re nipping at each other’s lips, occasionally clashing teeth, when there’s a whistle from the doorway. They jump apart, Thomas turning red as a tomato, and turn to see Newt staring at them with raised eyebrows and an amused smirk on his lips.

“Took you bloody idiots long enough. Now if you’re quite finished, how about get up and get ready, yeah? We promised Chuck we’d meet him for laser tag in an hour and it takes you both that long to get ready. Now chop, chop.” He leaves then, muttering about “stupid, shucking idiots,” before the door closes the rest of the way. When it shuts with a click, the two of them crack up; laughing so hard their stomachs start to ache slightly from it.

Once they’ve gotten their composure, Minho rolls out of bed, stretching his back and tugging his shirt over his head in one smooth motion.

“So, wanna take a shower, Thomas?”

-x-

They were half-an-hour late for laser tag.

(Not that any of their friends complained, seeing as how they had a pool going for how long it’d take for the two of them to stop being shucking idiots and open their eyes.

Teresa won.

Obviously.)

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @ nonbinarysangster


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